The Chicago Bulls are 9-18 and have only won back-to-back games on one occasion and are in the bottom of the eastern conference standings. The latest embarrassment came when they blew a 20 + point lead to Oklahoma State on Monday night. It’s been a flat out embarrassing year, again. So the question now is…where does the team go now?
Bulls insider K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago recently said he doesn’t see any change at the head coaching position, noting that the team is still paying Fred Hoiberg $5 million. Furthermore, Johnson believes that any coaching decisions won’t be made until after the season.
Will the team trade any of their current players? Rumors are never in short supply and one possibility is trading Zach Lavine, Kris Dunn and a future first-round pick to the Golden State Warriors for Jacob Evans and D’Angelo Russell. The Warriors are likely going to miss Steph Curry for the rest of the season, while Klay Thompson is out with a knee injury.
Russell is having a very good season for the Warriors, scoring nearly 23 points a game along with 6 assists per game. Russell’s scoring numbers are a career-high and his shooting percentage is going up compared to his previous 4 seasons in the NBA. Is he a good fit with the Bulls? He would be an upgrade at the point guard over Kris Dunn and the team has not had a reliable point guard since Derrick Rose. Expect the Bulls to be aggressive for Russell as the trade deadline comes closer. The question then becomes, who are the Bulls willing to deal for the second overall pick of the 2015 NBA draft? Lauri Markkanen, Thaddeus Young, Kris Dunn, Zach Lavine and Wendell Carter Jr. will be in the discussion from Golden State.
The team from the front office down is a discombobulated one and one of their plans will have to revolve around how to bring fans back to the United Center. Attendance is down and while they were NO. 1 in fan attendance every year from 2010-2017, the team is at 11 according toESPN.com.
Hawks v Bulls…no this is NOT the same pic @TomlinDoesIt took during Monday's game against Toronto. Can u guess the REAL attendance & a more important question (or is it)…will the brothers grab a W??? #TheBIGS #SeeRED #BullsNATION #ItsUS pic.twitter.com/Db7ZI0fsIF
— PEACE (@stayhumble) December 12, 2019
Why does this matter you may ask? If the team continues to see pictures as resembled in this tweet, it will be more difficult for the team to sign big name players and to use the money to make the fan experience better. Fans are tired of the experts having the Bulls as their NBA picks against the spread as the underdog, and want to straight seeing straight up wins. A winning culture partially involves bringing fans to the arena and to generate the excitement for people to come out.
The team should be alarmed by the declining attendance numbers. The talent on the court isn’t that bad but the perception from the outside is that the team is in chaos, the top management needs to counter that narrative.
This may seem like ‘low hanging fruit’ but a big reason why notable free agents are not willing to sign in Chicago is because of what has been heard from the outside.
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